Sony Online Entertainment, Inc (SOE) is hosting a fan art contest for Lords of EverQuest, the upcoming real-time strategy game set in the EverQuest universe. Artists and fans alike are invited to show off their artistic flare and enter the Lords of EverQuest Fan Art Contest! The winning entry will be used as the key art at www.LordsOfEverQuest.com for one month. SOE will even make a desktop wallpaper out of it so others can download it and enjoy. Read more for details and prices ...

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE) today announced that PlanetSide: Core Combat, the first expansion for its popular massively multiplayer online first-person action game, PlanetSide, is available at North American retail stores and via secure digital download from SOE. With six new underground war zones, additional weapons, vehicles, and enhanced empire bonuses, Core Combat adds many new gameplay options for players to master in PlanetSide's all-hours-of-the-day online conflict. The expansion carries a suggested retail price of $29.99, and requires a copy of PlanetSide to play.

Demonstrating the massive appeal of the PlayStation platforms and its software libraries, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. today announced three additions to its PlayStation2 "Greatest Hits" lineup, including: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs, Ratchet & Clank and Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.

Sony Ericsson today announced innovative, fun products to go with their mobile phones. The Gameboard EGB-10 is an attachable game controller, which gives a true console-style feeling to playing mobile games. The Bluetooth CAR-100 is a small racecar that can be controlled with a Sony Ericsson mobile phone, a great example of the variety of ways in which Bluetooth wireless technology can be used.

As clockwork, the major companies are starting to release their ECTS material. We have screens for the following Sony PS2 titles :

• WRC3
• Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
• Rise to Honor
• Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked & Loaded
• Hardware: Online Arena
• Jak II: Renegade
• Amplitude
• Grand Turismo 4
• Ghost Hunter
• Everquest Online Adventures
• Arc: Twilight of the Spirits
• Dark Chronicle
• Destruction Derby Arenas

Due to the latest international legal developments surrounding Mod Chips and similar devices, and for financial reasons, Lik Sang International Limited signed an Acknowledgement and Undertaking which includes a one time compensation payment to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. announced today that EverQuest: Evolution, an affordable, all-inclusive collection that offers the original game as well as the five current expansion packs, The Ruins of Kunark, The Scars of Velious, The Shadows of Luclin, The Planes of Power and The Legacy of Ykesha is available in stores everywhere for the suggested retail price of $29.99.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE) announced today that it is finalizing plans to create SOEGames.net , an online game matching service that will allow gamers to find each other and battle it out across the Internet. The first games to take advantage of SOEGames.net will be Lords of EverQuest and Champions of Norrath, two upcoming Sony Online Entertainment titles. SOEGames.net will also be the first game matching system designed to host both console and PC games.

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. today announced development agreements with Lodestone Games LLC and SolWorks to create original gaming content to be published by SOE. Lodestone and SolWorks will be creating two independent, as-yet unannounced games; further product information will be revealed at a later date.

This much-anticipated first add-on for the Star Wars Galaxies series, scheduled for release in 2004, will introduce personal starships and starfighters, which can be used for interplanetary travel or space combat. The expansion also promises additional worlds, playable species, non-player characters, new creatures and more! "The staggered release schedule of the space component of the Star Wars Galaxies series will benefit players because they will have time to establish their characters and explore different elements of the core game before we add the space layer," says Rich Vogel, director of development at Sony Online Entertainment's Austin studio. "Once the space component becomes available, players who have been with us since the beginning will be ready to buy their own starships and launch into this new arena."

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is pleased to announce the continuation of the multi-million selling Formula One series. The only game to be officially licensed by Formula One Administration Ltd, FORMULA ONE 2003 will be released in July this year. Benefiting from a brand new deal signed with Formula One Administration Ltd, the FORMULA ONE franchise will now be exclusive to SCEE and to PlayStation2 for the next four years, ensuring unparalleled accuracy and the closest experience to being an F1 driver you'll get on any platform.

The PlayStation 2 hardware is to be integrated into a new home media device from Sony's consumer electronics department, codenamed the PSX, as the Japanese giant struggles to extend the success of its games division to other operations. The new device will feature a TV tuner, hard disc drive and a DVD recorder alongside the games console functionality, making it into an "all in one" device for gaming, media recording and playback. Details of the device are a bit thin on the ground at the moment, but it's expected that it will offer hard disc video recorder functions, similar to the TiVo and Sky Plus systems, and will feature a high speed internet port to allow downloads of music and possibly movies through Sony's media distribution systems, in Japan at least.

With the launch this week of PlanetSide, subscribers now have access to a new free service that can be used to track their empire's progress, their individual stats in the game and more via MyPlanetSide all of these features combine to give the player the ability to see what's happening in the game, even when they don't have time to play. Read more for some additional details ...

Today we have a batch of screens from Sony Online Entertainment's E3 Lineup, featured titles are :

• PlanetSide (PC)
• Lords Of Everquest (PC)
• EverQuest II (PC)
• Everquest Online Adventures: Frontiers (PS2)
  
  Hit this link for the screens!

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. announced that its highly-anticipated massively multiplayer online first-person action game, PlanetSide(tm), has shipped to U.S. and Canadian retail stores. The groundbreaking game allows thousands of players to fight online in an all-hours-of-day global war that has never been seen before in the first-person action genre. The company also announced its first planned post-launch additional features including several new vehicles and game options. PlanetSide has a suggested retail price of $49.99, and includes a 30-day subscription to the game.

Responding to criticism that it was trying to take advantage of the Iraq war for commercial gain, Sony Corp said on Wednesday it will not use the phrase "shock and awe" for PlayStation videogames made by a subsidiary. A U.S. unit of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc has withdrawn an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the phrase for commercial use, a Sony spokeswoman said.

Sony have revealed that a new PS2 version is currently in production and will be released in Japan May 15th. This new version will support playback of recordable DVD formats, and will boast improved DVD playback. A new DVD remote is also planned, which allows you to power the unit and open the disc tray! European and US release date not available yet!

Gamesradar reports that the current war in Iraq could soon be coming to a PlayStation 2 near you - if Sony have anything to do with it. According to a report in today's Guardian, the console giants have already taken out a patent on the phrase "Shock and Awe" for usage in videogames. The phrase was adopted by the White House to describe the US's heavy bombing of Baghdad.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the worldwide fall 2003 release of Jak II, created exclusively for the PlayStation2 computer entertainment system. Developed by Naughty Dog Inc., the company responsible for 2001's smash hit Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and the highly acclaimed multi-million unit selling Crash Bandicoot series on PlayStation, the newest installment of the Jak and Daxter series, Jak II, takes action-adventure gaming to a whole new level.

Blomberg.com reports that Sony Corp. plans to move production of its PlayStation 2 console to China next year, as the rivalry from Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox forces the world's largest video-game console maker to tighten control on costs and prices. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. currently makes half of its PlayStation 2s at two plants in Japan. Sony expects to move all of its production to Chinese plants run by Taiwanese companies Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. and Asustek Computer Inc. next fiscal year, Sony Computer spokesman Koichiro Katsurayama said. Shifting PlayStation 2's assembly operations to China may allow Sony to increase profit margins at its video-game unit, which accounted for 36 percent of the company's operating profit in the three months ended Dec. 31. China's lower labor costs may also give Sony room to cut the PlayStation 2's retail price, giving Sony an edge over Microsoft's Xbox.

Sony Corp., the world's second- largest consumer-electronics maker, will introduce the PlayStation 3 video-game console this year, two years ahead of schedule, to widen its lead over rivals, the Commercial Times said, citing unidentified people at Taiwanese parts suppliers. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. of Taiwan, which assembles the PlayStation 2 for Sony, and other parts suppliers on the island will start trial production next month, the report said.

Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), will give the public a chance to experience EverQuest Online Adventures, one of the world's most anticipated massively multiplayer online console games ever created, before it's available on retail shelves currently scheduled on February 12th. EverQuest Online Adventures extends the EverQuest brand to the PlayStation2, the most popular console gaming system in the world.

Fast-paced driving, intense fight scenes, and unprecedented realism prove to be a winning combination for Sony Team Soho's London gangster game, "The Getaway," and they couldn't have done it without Kaydara FiLMBOX (now named MOTIONBUILDER). Using MOTIONBUILDER as a hub for its production pipeline, Sony Soho's team of over 50 developers were able to break new ground in advanced character animation and motion capture to produce one of the hottest action games of the year. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) released "The Getaway" in December 2002.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today moved to quash speculation that it would be reducing the price of its PlayStation2 computer entertainment console before Christmas. The move follows news coverage of a reduction in the wholesale price of the PlayStation 2 in Japan, to bring it into general alignment with the current console price in Europe and North America. The Japanese price cut was made possible by increased production yields of the NTSC format console for the Japanese market (Europe use the PAL TV format). Sony Computer Entertainment Europe confirmed today that there were no plans to reduce the price of PlayStation 2 in the PAL territories before Christmas. We are very content with the sales of PlayStation 2 in Europe following our price reduction at the end of August this year,” said David Reeves, EVP Sales and Marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. “This Christmas sees a phenomenal line-up of PlayStation games, from Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, to The Getaway, GTA Vice City, This is Football 2003, Formula 1 2002 and WRC II Extreme.

Logitech announced today that the Logitech Cordless Controller for PS One, and PlayStation has an official license from Sony Computer Entertainment America. This makes Logitech's cordless controller the first and only licensed cordless controller for this platform. This Logitech product includes proprietary 2.4 GHz Cordless Freedom, the most reliable cordless technology available for gamers.